LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES IN YOUTH

                                                          Regular physical activity provides important health benefits for children and adolescents, including beneficial effects on cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal health, and on academic performance as well. Physical activity patterns in youth are likely to extend into adulthood, and therefore, the establishment of a physically active lifestyle in early life is essential for the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases during the life course. A physically active lifestyle may include different kinds of physical activities such as participation in organized sports or active commuting to and from school. Nowadays, it should also include the avoidance of excessive sitting, which has recently been suggested to be a health hazard, independently of participation in physical activities.


                                                          Social Networking websites are the main cause of lack of physical activities among youth. Smart phones, Laptops, Tablets and Ipads are making our lives hell. They are marking our lives too much busy that we are not paying attention towards our parents. We are less physically active from  these  hectic things. We spent our whole day sitting in front of screens and playing video games, even we do not have time to eat a healthy food . Sitting still in front of TV or computer screens for hours is relatively common among young people. Also those children who participate in organized sports may, after training sessions, sit hours in front of screens. Internet and TV provide entertainment for 24 hours per day. Time spent with entertainment media late at night may steel time from sleeping and may also dilute the quality of sleep, leading to daytime tiredness and lack of motivation to physical activity.

                                                         The current physical activity recommendations for school-aged children state that all young people should be involved in physical activity of at least moderate intensity for at least 1 hour per day.1 However, many young people fail to meet these recommendations; the proportion of sufficiently active young people is estimated at one third, with wide variations between age groups, genders, and countries. However, alongside with these questionnaire-based surveys, we would also need objective monitoring of physical activity. Studies using direct measures of activity, such as accelerometers, have suggested higher estimates for the proportion of adequately active youths.


                                                            The recent increase of obesity among young people has been attributed to too much time spent in front of TV and computer screens. According to the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics, TV viewing in young people should be restricted to 2 hours per day to avoid negative effects on body weight and other health outcomes. Some national recommendations of physical activity for school-aged children have also mentioned guidelines for sedentary time. In Finland, national recommendations for young people state that "continued periods of sitting for more than 2 hours at a time should be avoided. Screen time with entertainment media should be limited to 2 hours per day." The expert panel who created these physical activity guidelines also wanted to give recommendations of screen time and thereby encourage parents and other important people in young people's life to discuss about excessive screen time and to restrict it if necessary. For pediatrics, it would be important to pay attention to both children's participation in physical activities and their screen time. However, further research is needed about the dose-response association between sedentary behaviors and health outcomes to more accurately define the safety level for different sedentary pursuits.

Merits and Demerits of Physical Activities

                                                         The overwhelming advancement in the field of Science and Technology has brought revolutionary changes in our lives. It made our lives easy and fast simultaneously. Unfortunately, there is another side of the picture which demonstrates negative impacts of this advancement. One major effect it had is the lack of physical activities in people, particularly youth. They have chosen Video games and internet as alternatives for a much beneficial way of spending free time.

                                                        Some Benefits of Regular Physical Activity are stated below:
∙ Physical Activities play a vital role in building and maintaining healthy bones and muscles. Therefore, young people must indulge theselves in physical activities for better growth.
∙ One of the most commonly spread disease among the youth nowadays is obesity. Its a worrying factor because obesity leads way to many dangerous diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
∙ Due to fast and hectic lives, stress and anxiety has become a part and parcel of our daily routines. Physical Activity helps in reducing depression and promotes psychological well-being.
∙ Physical Activity is a useful tool for youngsters not only because it keeps them physically healthy but it also helps in mental growth and strength. It improves concentration level and attentiveness of the students and paves way for them to get higher grades.
. Physical Activities also aids in proper working of our circulatory system. The pumping of heart remains fine and blood flow is not hindered due to constricted blood vessels.
Some of the Consequences of Avoiding Physical Activities are listed below:
. Physical inactivity leads to many diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.
. Physically inactive people are more likely to develop heart diseases like coronary heart diseases.
. Lack of Physical Activities causes depression resulting in frustration and anger. This ultimately destroys your social life.
. There is a very famous saying “use it or lose it”. If you do not use your bones, they are most likely to become weak and you may suffer osteoporosis. Physical Activity provides strength to your bones and keeps them safe from osteoporosis.
. Nowadays the most commonly used alternative of physical activity by youngsters is use of internet or playing games on computer or mobile phones. Constant interaction with radiations coming from these devices is extremly harmful for our eyes. That is one of the reasons why use of spectacles is rapidly increasing among young people.

Advancement in Technology

                                                            Advancement of technology during last ten years has put great effects on the human behavior and activites.if low-cost technology making our lives more convenient and easy. There is also another side of picture which is emerging as rapidly as innovation in world of science day-by-day. And that is “lack of physical activities in youth”. People especially young generation has become much victim of this disease Analyst refers this problem to the mother of technology “computer”. Young generation has become much lazy, obese and rude due to this ‘boon’,

                                                           One of main reason for rapid decrease in physical activities is technology facilities and busy schedules. If technology is making our ways of doing some job more efficient and less time consuming .it also impact on our behavior that outcomes in the form of laziness. Young generation even under15’s also see the video games and computer related activities more attractive than outdoor games. About 75% of children between the ages of 5 and 10 only get less than one hour of physical activity a day   Y-USA study found in it survey .

                                                            With the blessings of social media and virtual simulation like 8pool ball, FIFA etc. of healthy games   young generation miss many lessons and spirit which can only come in real physical game. Social gatherings and ingenious local games also rapidly disappearing from our culture due to this trend. This virtual world has make the youth unhealthy and hub of diseases because lack of any healthy activity make a body dull. inactivity is as deadly as smoking a study revealed.

                                                             Gone are the days when people were much close to the nature due to their morning walks and when they meet each other face-to-face .Lack of Moral values also a cause of lack of physical activities. The spirit of teamwork, dedication to achieve a task, tolerate the behavior of others are the values not available on the virtual world these are only inculcated through the physical world.

Physical Activities

                                                        The burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing globally and poses a major public health concern, a large part of which is preventable. These diseases have been strongly associated with unhealthy lifestyle habits, including inappropriate nutrition and lack of physical activities.

                                                        Although behaviors of students are considered a temporary part of college life. College Life is an important stage for individuals as at this time their behaviors are conducive to change. University and college arenas, therefore, represent an important opportunity for health. According to Physical Activity among Adults: United States, 2000 one in five adults engage in high levels of activity, but one in four are largely inactive (United States Department of Health and Human Services, [USDHHS], 2003). This report, along with many others including the Surgeon General’s Report (USDHHS, 1996) that identified physical inactivity as a major health risk factor, document the magnitude of health problems that are mounded by the lack of physical activity. Daily physical activity on a moderate basis is recommended for people of all ages especially for students.
However, a student’s motives for physical activity are also important. The most common motives identified are to improve or maintain health, improve physical appearance and enjoy a social experience (Ryan, Fredrick, Lepes, Rubio, & Sheldon, 1997). Improve physical appearance is the most common motive among students.

                                                         To understand, one must identify the type of motivation the student possesses that will influence the activities selected.

                                                        This is a report measure that the students reported how many times during a 7-day period they participated in strenuous (running, jogging, heart beat rapidly), moderate (fast walking, tennis, not exhausting), and mild (yoga, golf, minimal effort) physical activity for more than 15 minutes (Godin & Shephard, 1985). An exercise index score is calculated by multiplying each reported exercise session by its metabolic equivalent tasks (METS) and summing the results. The formula is as follows: Weekly leisure activity score = (9 x Strenuous) + (5 x Moderate) + (3 x Light).

                                                          This report procedure was done by questionnaires via a web-based design for students to be able to access it their ease. In this way students were able to complete the survey in just fifteen minutes. The responses were confidential and anonymous.

Video Games

                                                      Today physical activities are being replaced by electronic activities. Now we spend most of our time in using computers and mobiles instead of doing some proper physical activities. These electronic activities has effected is in a lot of ways e.g. they affects our physical and as well as mental health. One of the biggest effects that electronic devices do is the change of our mind set due to video games.

                                                      Video games is now a trend and they have replaced the physical activities of the children. They are now changing the proper approach of children towards life and trying to make them emotionless. For example game like GTA have been petitioned to be banned claiming that it is making children more violent. It is true up to a certain extent as there are lot of modes in game where the character in the game kill people. In this game you can do anything that you can imagine to do in real life. You can run the cars, you can use weapons to kill the people and you can rob any body and can beat people on the road. All these things are promoting violence in the young children.

                                                     *Many experts including Henry Jenkins of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have noted that there is a decreased rate of juvenile crime which coincides with the popularity of games such as Death Race, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Grand Theft Auto. He concludes that teenage players are able to leave the emotional effects of the game behind when the game is over.* so this mental trauma leads them to violence in their real life to. So we should try to be indulged in physical activities because what we do in the playground exhausts us and take away negative thoughts from our minds.